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Jon Britton murder jury sent home for weekend

A jury trying a man accused of stabbing his estranged wife's boyfriend to death on the doorstep of his West Kirby home has been sent home for the weekend.

The jury at Liverpool Crown Court retired yesterday, Thursday, to begin their deliberations after hearing ten days of evidence but have so far failed to reach a verdict.

43-year-old Jon Britton died after being stabbed in the neck and chest when he answered the door of his home in Paton Close on December 3 last year. Such was the ferocity of the attack that the knife broke in two.

In the dock is Wayne Smith, 38, a father-of-three, of of Seymour Street, Birkenhead, who denies murder.

The court has heard claims that Smith was seen on CCTV footage travelling from BIrkenhead to Smith's home and back by train, His DNA was found on a hooded snood found near where Mr Britton lived and a hooded jacket with his DNA was found in a suitcase in Hatton's home.

Smith denies the allegations and claims that he had been playing board games at a friend's home in Birkenhead at the time of the killing.